Low cost mobile vacuum cleaner



July 11, 1961 G. H. BRAMHALL LOW COST MOBILE VACUUM CLEANER 4Sheets-Sheet 1 A M wge a @fiw. NEW w na m o w t M Q m J a m% .w 0 e H 46 i J a A .1

July 11, 1961 G. H. BRAMHALL 2,991,928

LOW COST MOBILE VACUUM CLEANER Filed May 20, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 July11, 1961 BRAMHALL 2,991,928

LOW COST MOBILE VACUUM CLEANER Filed May 20, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 July11, 1961 G. H. B.RAMHALL 2,991,928

LOW COST MOBILE VACUUM CLEANER Filed May 20, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Gear6 /-7. Bram/7a,

fi/AS A1; Carney United States Patent Ofiice 2,991,928 Patented July 11,1961 LOW COST MOBILE VACUUM CLEANER George H. Bramliall, Chagrin Falls,Ohio, assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of N cw YorkFiled May 20, 1958, Ser. No. 736,518 6 Claims. (Cl. 230,117)

My invention relates to domestic, mobile vacuum cleaners.

The vacuum cleaner art is highly competitive and constantly strives toreduce the cost of producing vacuum cleaners in order that vacuumcleaner manufacturers might operate on a profitable basis. The intensecompetition extends not only to the area of price, which in turn islargely dependent upon the cost of producing vacuum cleaners, but alsoto the functional area of operational features. Currently the vacuumcleaner art has stressed the operational feature of mobility in vacuumcleaners. One highly successful, contemporary, mobile vacuum cleanercomprises a generally cylindrical, horizontally oriented casing which issupported on a pair of large wheels for movement over a floor surface.The challenge of providing a vacuum cleaner which is highly attractiveto the consumer due to its desirable operational features, and yet onewhich is simple in construction and easy to manufacture, and therefore,inexpensive to produce, constantly faces the vacuum cleaner art.

It is an object of this inventionto provide a domestic, mobile vacuumcleaner which is simple in construction, easy to assemble and, yet,which possesses many desirable operational features.

The object of this invention is achieved in one form by the provision ofa domestic, mobile vacuum cleaner comprising an essentially cylindrical,main casing which is made of two cup-shaped parts that cooperate whenassembled to provide a mounting for the vacuum cleaner motor and fanunit, an air filtering chamber and an air discharge chamber, that areadapted to support a pair of large wheels on their exterior, oneassociated with each part, and wherein one part is adapted to receive adisk-like cover which operates on an oil can principle to close thecasing.

The above and other objects and further details of that which I believeto be novel and my invention will become apparent from a considerationof the following specification and drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view, with portions cut away and shown in sectionfor the sake of clarity, of a completely assembled, domestic, mobilevacuum cleaner which incorporates the instant invention;

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view looking in the direction of the arrowA in FIG. 1, with portions cut away and shown in section for the sake ofclarity;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the entire vacuum cleaner;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken centrally through the lid anda portion of the vacuum cleaner oasing which cooperates therewith,showing the lid in its closed condition;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 showing the lid in its opencondition; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of the lid.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly FIG. 1, it will be seen thatthe improved, domestic, mobile vacuum cleaner generally comprises anessentially cylindrical, main casing 10, and a pair of wheels 12 and 14.Within the casing there is provided an air filtering chamber 16 and anair discharge chamber 18. Resiliently supported within the casing 10 isan air-flow producing means in the form of a motor and fan unit 20, thedetailed construction of which will not be disclosed in this patentapplication. The particular construction of the motor and fan unit isnot a specific part of the instant invention, and therefore, it will beunderstood that various motor and fan units could be employed as long asthey have appropriate mounting portions for cooperating with theremainder of the vacuum cleaner structure to mount the motor and fanunit properly in the vacuum cleaner casing. For a disclosure of aparticularly effective motor and fan unit which may be utilized with theinstant invention, reference may be had to my co-pending patentapplication Serial No. 73 6,519, entitled Low Cost Electric Motor, filedconcurrently herewith, and assigned to the assignee of the instantapplication.

The motor and fan unit 20 is appropriately wired and is electricallyconnected to electrical cord 22, which extends through an opening 24 inthe casing 10 to the exterior thereof, where it has a conventionalelectrical plug (not shown) at its free end, which may be manuallyinserted into a conventional, domestic electrical outlet. The opening 24is sealed by the air seal 26 and thereby rendered air tight. At anotherlocation in the casing 10 there is provided an opening 28 in which, andextending into the interior of the casing, is disposed an air inlet tube30. The coupling end '32 of a flexible air hose 34 is adapted to beremovably inserted into the opening 28 and to thereby place the airfiltering chamber 16 in communication with the interior of the air hose34. It will be understood that the free end of the air hose 34 (notshown) may have a vacuum cleaning tool connected to it for use in aconventional manner on the object being vacuum cleaned. The details ofthe coupling 32 form no specific part of my invention, and therefore,will not be described. However, a particularly elfective coupling whichmay be utilized with the instant invention is disclosed and claimed inPatout No. 2,755,106 (Brennan et al.), assigned to the assignee of theinstant invention. It will be understood that, if desired, othercouplings could be utilized with the instant invention.

One axial end of the casing 10 is formed by a disk-like wall 36 that iscentrally perforated and comprises an air discharge means for the airdischargechamber '18. In the peripheral portion of the air dischargechamber '18 and located radially outwardly of the motor base 38- of themotor and fan unit 20, and in the space between the motor base 38 andwall 36, are masses of sound deadening and heat insulating material 40,which may be any suitable material, such as glass fiber mats.

The interior of the casing .10 is compartmented into the previouslymentioned air filtering chamber 16 and air discharge chamber 18 by aninternal, centrally apertured, disk-like wall 42. In addition tocompartmenting the casing, wall 42 also supports, in a resilient manner,the motor and [fan unit 20. Specifically, the motor and fan unit issupported on the tubular portion-44 of the wall 42 by a pair ofresilient annular cushions 46 and 48 which are designed to cooperatewith the wall 42 and the motor and fan unit 20 to resiliently supportthe latter. The motor and fan unit is retained in its supported positionon the wall 42 by the ring 50, which in turn is retained in place by thefingers 52, which are part of the motor and fan unit,

and are adapted to be deformed from their FIG. 1 dotted line position totheir FIG. 1 solid line position. As can best be seen in FIG. 1, themotor and fan unit is supported from the wall 42 by the annular cushions46 and 48, which jointly are captured on one side (the left-hand side asseen in FIG. 1) by one side of the motor base 38, and on the other sideby the ring 50, which in turn is firmly retained in position by thedeformed fingers 52 of the motor and fan unit.

On the air filtering chamber side of the motor and fan unit, the latteris surrounded by a perforate hood- 54 which is tapered and cup-shaped,and the free peripheral edge 56 of which is bent over the radially outeredge of the ring 50 to secure the hood in place. It will be understoodthat the hood 54 constitutes a protective guard for the motor.

The axial end of the casing 10 opposite to the perforate wall 36 is opento permit access to the interior of the casing, particularly the airfiltering chamber '16 for the purpose of inserting or removingdisposable dirt bags. The free edge of the casing 10 is deformed to forman annular seat 58 for a closing lid. The closing lid 60, the details ofconstruction and operation of which can best be seen in FIGS. 4 and 5,comprises a dished metal disk having a knob 62 secured centrally on oneside thereof, and having its periphery formed in a particular manner tosupport a resilient annular grommet 64. As can best be seen in FIG. 6,the periphery of the lid disk is bent to form a cylindrical flange 66,the extremity of which is in turn bent reversely to form a generallyradially extending flange 67. Both flanges 66 and 67 are slotted to forma plurality of tabs 68, the free end portions of which extend generallyradially.

The lid 60 operates on an oil can principle. When the lid is removedfrom the casing, it occupys the position shown in FIG. 5. It will therebe observed that the lid disk forms a continuous concave dish, and thatthe flange 66 extends slightly radially inwardly. To close the casing,the lid 60 is juxtaposed to the seat 58, and the knob 62 is urgedaxially toward the casing. Upon exertion of a sufficient amount of forceon the knob 62, the lid disk is snapped to its position illustrated inFIG. 4, wherein the direction of its concavity has been reversed. Whenin the FIG. 4 condition, it will be observed that the flange 66 extendsslightly radially outwardly. A comparison of FIGS. 4 and will indicatethat the transition from the FIG. 5 to the FIG. 4 condition also resultsin the tabs 68 being moved radially out. This movement is utilized tourge the grommet 64 radially outwardly against the seat 58 to therebyfirmly lock the lid in closed position and to air seal the opening inthe casing. It will be understood that all that is required to removethe lid from the casing is to pull the knob 62 axially away from thecasing, and this results in the lid disk ultimately changing itsdirection of concavity from its FIG. 4 condition to its FIG. 5condition, which has the effect of moving the grommet 64 radiallyinwardly to break the air seal and release the lid from the casing.

In FIGS. 1 and 4 it will be observed that closely associated with theseat 58 is a formed ring 70. The ring 70 is utilized to mount a clothfilter bag 72 in the air filtering chamber 16. The cloth filter bag 72supports a resilient collar 74 which surrounds an opening 76 in thecloth filter bag. The collar 74 of the cloth filter bag may be slippedover the inlet tube 30 and disposed in the air filtering chamber 16 insubstantially the manner which is illustrated in FIG. 1. The remainderof the cloth filter bag is in the nature of a deformable pliablereceptacle, and has an open neck portion 78 which is adapted to bedisposed in the circular groove 80 formed in the ring 70 and which maybe retained therein by wire 82.

disposed aboutt he inlet tube 30, and that when the vacu- Near the axialends of the casing 10 are mounted the wheels 12 and 14; these wheels aremounted, respectively, on bearing assemblies 88 and 90, which in turnare supported on the casing. It will be understood that when fullyassembled as illustrated in FIG. 1, the casing may be disposed on thewheels 12 and 14 and propelled about a floor surface, as by pulling onthe air hose 34. It will also be understood that in order to gain accessto the interior of the vacuum cleaner casing it is solely necessary toremove the lid 60 by pulling on its knob 62. The improved, domestic,mobile vacuum cleaner when operated possesses the advantages of easymovement over a floor surface and easy insertion and removal of dirtbags. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that due to theunique general organization of the vacuum cleaner, vacuum cleaners ofrelatively small size can be built Without sacrificing functionalfeatures or advantages. In addition to the functional advantages of theimproved vacuum cleaner set forth, a principal advantage resides in thesimplicity of its construction and assembly, and therefore, in its lowproduction cost compared with other vacuum cleaners of its type.

The simplicity of construction and assembly perhaps can best be gleanedfrom a consideration of FIG. 3. It will there be observed that thecasing 10 is made up of three major parts, namely, a pair of generallycup-shaped members 92 and 94, which may be drawn metal shells, and thepreviously mentioned lid 60. The cup-shaped member 92 includes thepreviously mentioned perforated, disk-like wall 36, the cylindrical wall96, and the radially inwardly extending, annular flange 98. About theperiphcry of the cylindrical wall 96 on the exterior thereof aredisposed circumferentially aligned pairs of spaced protuberances 100,and in the flange 98 are formed a plurality of openings 102.

Cup-shaped member 94 includes a centrally apertured, disk-like bottomwall, which is the previously mentioned wall 42. Near the periphery ofthe wall 42 are formed a plurality of openings 104 which are located tocoincide with the openings 102 of the cup-shaped member 92 when thecasing is fully assembled; securing members 106 cooperate with openings102 and 104 to secure members 92 and 96 to each other to effect assemblyof the cup-shaped members. The cup-shaped member 94 also includes acylindrical wall 108 which has the previously mentioned openings 24 and28 that accommodate the electrical cord 22 and the air inlet tube 30,respectively. The open end of the cylindrical wall 108 is deformed toform the previously mentioned lid seat 58, and near said open end on theexterior of wall 108 are formed a plurality of circumferentially alignedpairs of spaced protuberances 110.

With an understanding of the three main component parts of the casing10, the simple manner of assembling the vacuum cleaner will be readilyunderstood. Starting with the cup-shaped member 92, and let us say,allowing it to rest with its perforated wall 36 on a horizontal surface,the masses of sound deadening and heat insulation material 40 may beplaced in the interior of this part. The fan and motor unit 20 may thenbe placed in the cup-shaped member 92 and supported in such a mannerthat its motor base 38 is supported on some of the material 40. It willbe understood that when in this stage of assembly, all of the fingers 52of the motor and fan unit extend axially on axes which are parallel tothe major axis of the motor and fan unit. The annular cushion 46 is thenslipped over the motor and fan unit in its position illustrated inFIG. 1. The cup-shaped member 94 is then placed over the motor and fanunit on top of the cup-shaped member 92. The openings 102 and 104 arealigned and the securing means 106 are disposed to rigidly secure thecup-shaped members together in their FIG. 1 position. The annularcushion 48 is then placed about the tubular portion 44 of the wall 42 ofthe cup-shaped member 94. The ring 50 is then placed in its FIG. 1position, and it will there be seen that its has portions which contactportions of both cushions 46 and 48. Some of the fingers 52 are thendeformed from their positions illustrated in dotted lines FIG. 1 totheir positions illustrated in solid lines in FIG. 1. It will beunderstood that at this time the assembled motor and fan unit andcushions 46 and 48 are securely supported by the wall 42, because thecushions and said wall are trapped between the motor base 38, the ring50 and the deformed fingers 52. The perforate hood 54 is then disposedabout the motor and fan unit 20, and its free peripheral edge 56 is bentover the peripheral edge of the ring 50. At' this point, the casing isfully assembled other than for the manually removable closing lid 60,and it will be apparent that the air discharge chamber 18 is formed bythe perforate wall 36, cylindrical wall 96, wall 42 and motor base 38,and that the air filtering chamber 16 is formed by the wall 42,cylindrical wall 108, and lid 60, when it is assenibled,

It will be understood that the cloth filter bag 72 may be mounted asillustrated in FIG. 1 by having its collar 74 slipped over the air inlettube 30, and by having its neck portion 78 wired in the groove 80 by thewire 82. Further, a disposable dirt bag may have its mounting portion'86 slipped over the air inlet tube 30 also. With both the cloth filterbag and the disposable dirt hag mounted as illutsrated in FIG. 1, theclosing lid 60 is then mounted in its closed position illustrated inFIGS. 1 and 4.

At this time, the vacuum cleaner casing is completely assembled and isready for use. Although the wheels 12 and 14 will not have beenassembled yet, as far as the operational aspects of the vacuum cleanerother than mobility are concerned, it is ready for operation. In thiscondition, the air filtering chamber 16 is substantially air tight, andon actuation of the motor and fan unit, a flow of air through the casingis caused as illustrated by the schematic arrows in FIG. 1. The airflows into the cleaning tool (not shown), through the air hose 34 andthe air inlet tube 30, through the disposable dirt bag 83, through thecloth filter bag 72, through the perforate hood 54, through the motorand fan unit 20, which discharges the air into discharge chamber 18,where it passes through the sound deadening and heating insulatingmaterial 40, and out the perforate portion of wall 36 to the atmosphere.The manner in which motor and fan unit 20 functions to move airtherethrough is set forth in further detail in the above mentionedapplication,- Serial No. 736,519.

In order to achieve the desirable feature of mobility, it is, of course,necessary to provide for the mounting of the previously mentionedwheels. The wheels 12 and 14 are constructed and mounted in thefollowing manner. Each wheel comprises a corrugated metal ring 112, afiat ring 114, which may be cardboard, and a resilient tire 1 16, whichmay be molded and have a tread formation 118. The tires 116 are adaptedto be assembled to the rings 112 and 114 to form unitary wheels asillustrated in 1. Centrally within each corrugated ring 112, there isformed a channel-shaped, bearing surface 120 which is adapted to makebearing contact with a bearing assembly that is mounted on the casing.These bearing assemblies are the previously mentioned bearing assemblies88 and 90, which are similar, and each of which comprises an annularring 122 that is channel-shaped in cross-section, and that rotatablysupports a plurality of sleeve bearings 124 on pins 126. The baseportion of the channel of the rings 122 is disposed on the radiallyinner side of the rings 122, and is adapted to be received andpositioned about and on the casing in a relatively stationary position.In the case of wheel 12, the chan nel-shaped ring of the bearingassembly 88 is adapted to be received and positioned by the pairs ofprotuberances 100, whereas the channel-shaped ring of the bearingassembly 90 is adapted to be received and positioned by the pairs ofprotuberances 110.

In order to assemble the wheels, assuming that the casing has been fullyassembled in all respects other than that of having its wheels mountedon it, thebearing assembly 88, which at this time is in the form of anoncontinuous, annular channel 122, is broken at one point in itsperiphery and reduced in diameter, as by forcing one end ontothe-'othen'so' that'- it may be placed inside the wheel 12 until itssleeve bearings contact the bear ing surface 120. When the sleevebearings are properly locatedin relation to the bearing surface 120, thechannel 122 is then brought to its normal diameter and has its endsfastened together in any conventional manner to form a continuousannulus. -It should be understood that at this time the wheel 12 willhave the bearing assembly 88 mounted within it. In order to mount theassembled wheel 12 and bearing assembly 88 on the casing, they areforced over the casing so as to temporarily deform some of theprotuberances until the ring- 122 is uniformly located within the seatformed by these protuberances. When the wheel 12 and its bearingassembly 88 are fully mounted, they are disposed as is illustrated inFIG. 1. It will be readily understood that the wheel .14 may be mountedwith relation to its bearing assembly 90 and the protuberances insubstantially the same manner. When fully mounted, the wheels 12 and 14are disposed as illustrated in FIG. 1, and it will be understood thatthey may rotate independently about the casing 10 on the sleeve bearing124 of their respective bearing assemblies.

It is believed to be apparent that applicant has provided an improved,domestic, mobile vacuum cleaner which is extremely simple inconstruction and easy to assemble, and therefore, inexpensive toproduce. Notwithstanding the latter, it should be apparent that theimproved vacuum cleaner contemplated by the instant invention has manyoperational advantages, including, but not limited to, those ofmobility, ease of insertion and removal of dirt bags, and a resilientlymounted motor and fan unit. As is evident from the foregoingdescription, certain aspects of my invention are not limited to theparticular details of construction of the example illustrated, and Icontemplate that various and other modifications and applications willoccur to those skilled in the art. It is, therefore, my intention thatthe appended claims shall cover such modifications and applications asdo not depart from the true spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

1. In a vacuum cleaner: a generally cylindrical casing including adisk-shaped wall at one end thereof; a motor and fan unit disposed insaid casing, said casing having an opening at its other end forpermitting access to the interior thereof; said casing having wallportions forming a circular seat which is disposed about said opening;means associated with said circular seat for supporting a filter bagwithin said casing; alid for closing said opening; said lid comprising athin circular disk having a cylindrical 'flange formed near itsperiphery, and a plurality of radially extending tabs formed at itsperiphery; said disk being normally configured so as to be concave inone axial direction and being made of a springy material which rendersthe disk capable of being deformed into a condition in which the disk isconcave in the other axial direction; said disk when in one conditionbeing configured so that said flange extends slightly radially inwardlyand said tabs are retracted radially relative to their positions whensaid disk is configured in the other condition wherein said flangeextends slightly radially outwardly and said tabs are projectedradially; and tabs supporting an annular resilient grommet at theperiphery of said disk; the casing and lid being dimensioned so thatwhen said disk is in said one condition, the outer diameter of saidgrommet is less than the inner diameter of said seat, whereby saidlidmay be inserted within or withdrawn from said seat; and when said diskis in said other condition, the outer diameter of said grommet 'is'greater than the inner diameter of said seat, whereby when said lid isdisposed within said seat said grommet makes air sealing contact withsaid seat and said disk will retain said lid on said casing disposed toclose said casing; andmanually grippable means on said disk for snappingsaid disk from one condition to the other to effect the desired diskconfiguration to either mount or remove said lid.

2. In a vacuum cleaner: a casing; and a motor and fan unit mountedwithin said casing; said casing being formed by two cup-shaped membersand a removable disk-like lid; the first cup-shaped member comprising acylindrical wall having a radially extending disk-like wall at one ofits ends and having its other end open; said disk-like wall having atubular portion formed centrally thereof that is coaxially spaced withinsaid cylindrical wall; the second cup-shaped member comprising acylindrical wall having a radially extending disk-like wall at one ofits ends and having its other end open; said first cup-shaped memberadapted to be secured to said second cup-shaped member with itsdisk-like wall closing the open end of the cylindrical wall of saidsecond cup-shaped member, said motor and fan unit adapted to be rceeivedin said tubular portion and be supported by said first cup-shapedmembers disk-like wall, and the cylindrical wall of said firstcup-shaped member having a means formed about its open end which isadapted to removably receive said lid; said lid being selectivelymanually positionable so as to cooperate with said last-mentioned meansto close said last-mentioned open end.

3. In a vacuum cleaner as defined in claim 2: means for moving saidcasing over a floor surface; said moving means comprising a plurality ofwheel assemblies; each of said wheel assemblies comprising an annularwheel and a bearing assembly; each of said wheels having an annularbearing surface groove facing radially inwardly; each of said bearingassemblies having a bearing supporting ring and a plurality of rotatablebearings supported by said ring and projecting radially outwardlythereof; and said casing having means for supporting said rings andlocating them in spaced relation to each other; said rings, bearings andwheels being dimensionally correlated to allow said bearings to bereceived in said bearing surface grooves in bearing contact therewith,whereby said wheels are rotatably mounted on said bearings when thevacuum cleaner is fully assembled.

4. In a vacuum cleaner: a casing; a motor and fan unit mounted withinsaid casing; and means for moving said casing over a floor surface; saidcasing being formed by two cup-shaped members and a removable disk-likelid; the first cup-shaped member comprising a cylindrical wall having aradially extending disk-like wall at one of its ends and having itsother end open; said disk-like wall having a tubular portion formedcentrally thereof that is coaxially spaced within said cylindrical wall;the

second cup-shaped member comprising a cylindrical wall having a radiallyextending disk-like wall at one of its ends and having its other endopen; said first cup-shaped member adapted to be secured to said secondcup-shaped member with its disk-like wall closing the open end of thecylindrical wall of said second cup-shaped member, said motor and fanunit adapted to be received in said tubular portion and be supported bysaid first cup-shaped members disk-like wall; said motor and fan unithaving a major axis and normally disposed in said casing so as to havesaid axis extend in a generally horizontal direction, said motor and fanunit having a generally vertically extending base and a plurality offingers that are axially spaced from said base and extend generallyaxially prior to being disposed in their final positions, but which aredeformable to extend generally vertically when disposed in their finalpositions; resilient cushioning means supported by said tubular portionand adapted to contact said motor and fan unit between said base andsaid fingers; and means engaged by said fingers when the latter aredeformed into their final positions and biased thereby against saidresilient cushioning means; whereby said resilient cushioning means issecurely positioned on said tubular portion between said base and saiddeformed fingers and said motor and fan unit is resilientlysupported bysaid resilient cushioning means on the disk-like wall of said firstcup-shaped member.

5. In a vacuum cleaner: a casing; a motor and fan unit mounted withinsaid casing; and means for moving said casing over a floor surface; saidcasing being formed by two cup-shaped members and a lid; the firstcupshaped member comprising a cylindrical wall having a radiallyextending disk-like wall at one of its ends and having its other endopen; said disk-like wall having a tubular portion formed centrallythereof that is coaxially spaced within said cylindrical wall; thesecond cupshaped member comprising a cylindrical wall having a radiallyextending disk-like wall at one of its ends and having its oEher endopen; said first cup-shaped member adapted to be secured to said secondcup-shaped member with its disk-like wall closing the open end of thecylindrical wall of said second cup-shaped member, said motor and fanunit adapted to be received in said tubular portion and be supported bysaid first cup-shaped members disk-like wall, said first cup-shapedmember having wall portions forming a circular seat which is disposedabout its open end; said lid comprising a thin circular disk having acylindrical flange formed near its periphery and a plurality of radiallyextending tabs formed at its periphery; said disk being normallyconfigured so as to be concave in one axial direction and being made ofspringy material which renders it capable of being deformed into acondition in which the disk is concave in the other axial direction,said disk when in one condition being configured so that said flangeextends slight-ly radially inwardly and said tabs are retracted radiallyrelative to their positions when said disk is configured in its othercondition wherein said flange extends slightly radially outwardly andsaid tabs are projected radially; said tabs supporting an annularresilient grommet at the periphery of said disk; said circular seat andlid being dimensioned so that when said disk is in said one conditionthe outer diameter of said grommet is less than the inner diameter ofsaid seat whereby said lid may be inserted within or withdrawn from saidseat, and when said disk is in said other condition the outer diameterof said grommet is greater than the inner diameter of said seat wherebywhen said lid is disposed within said seat said grommet makes airsealing contact with said seat and said disk is retained on said casingand disposed to close said opening in said first cupshaped member; andmanually grippable means on said disk for snapping said disk from onecondition to the other to effect the desired disk configuration toeither mount or remove said lid from said casing.

6. In a vacuum cleaner: the structure defined in claim 5 wherein saidmoving means comprises a plurality of wheel assemblies; each of saidwheel assemblies comprises an annular wheel and a bearing assembly; eachof said wheels has an annular bearing surface groove facing radiallyinwardly; each of said bearing assemblies has a bearing supporting ringand a plurality of rotatable bearings supported by said ring andprojecting radially outwardly thereof; the cylindrical walls of saidcupshaped members have means for supporting the rings and locating themin spaced relation to each other; said rings, bearings and wheels aredimensionally correlated to allow said hearings to be received in saidbearing surface grooves in bearing contact therewith, said motor and fanunit has a major axis and is normally disposed in said casing so as tohave said axis extend in a generally horizontal direction; said motorand fan unit has a generally vertically extending base and a pluralityof fingers that are axially spaced from said base and extend generallyaxially prior to being disposed in their final positions, but

which are deformable to extend generally vertically when disposed intheir final positions; resilient cushioning means are supported by saidtubular portion and adapted to contact said motor and fan unit betweensaid base and said fingers; and means are provided which are engaged bysaid fingers when the latter are deformed into their final positions andbiased thereby against the resilient cushioning means to securelyposition the latter on said tubular portion between said base and saiddeformed fingers; whereby said motor and fan unit is resilientlysupported by said cushioning means on the disk-like wall of said firstcup-shaped member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSMcClatchie May 3, 1932 Doughman Feb. 1, 1949 Exter Mar. 1, 1949 SheahanOct. 20, 1953 Benninghof Dec. 1, 1953 Cawl Apr. 6, 19'54 Vischer Nov. 2,1954 Schiermau Nov. 15, 1-955 Kemnitz Oct. 22, 1957 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent, No. 2,991,928 July 11, 1961George H. Bramhall It is hereby certified that error appears in theabove numbered patent requiring correction and that the said LettersPatent. should read as "corrected below.

for "aboutt he read about the Column 3, line 68 column 6 line 6 8 column4, line 73, for "its" read it for "and", read said Signed and sealedthis 5th day of December 1961.

SEA L) Attest:

Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer USCOM M-DC'

